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I've had RLS for many years, probably relatively mild (how does one judge/compare?) but often have restless legs when sitting for long time, eg on train, in restaurant, watching TV. I also tend to sleep on my own to avoid disturbing my spouse (not to mention the snoring issue!).
On of the biggest problems is that my spouse finds my twitching, need to move legs annoying and doesn't seem to make any allowance - I guess those who don't have RLS never really understand
If you do a google search for "Restless Leg Syndrome Rating Scale" it should lead you to set of 10 questions that are scored 0 to 4. Answering this should give you an idea of the severity of your RLS.
Are you currently receiving any form of treatment to provide you with any relief?
As for issues with your spouse, this is something that many of us are familiar with. You may be able to find something in the Relationships forum that would help. Frequently, all we can do is try to educate our spouse and hope that they care enough to try to understand.
Steve
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Have you had your ferritin serum level checked, this is pretty important. It is a blood test that is not normally done with routine blood works and you need to ask for it. This tells the level of iron stored in your brain – and that is what is important to us sufferers of WED/RLS. We need a level of around 100, especially if we are taking a DA drug such as pramipezole or ropinerole. When getting the results of this test please ask your doctor for the actual level = do not accept ‘normal’ as an answer. Doctors and Labs may consider 20 to be normal… but it isn’t normal for us.
With regard to twitchy symptoms. A non sufferer needs a lot of education. Fortunately my husband met me when I was already having symptoms 24/7 and he accepts it as a part of me. Often in the evening I will have to have a walkabout the house and usually find something to do until it is 'walked off' or the medications kick in. I take an extra medication before cinema, theatre, eating out, long car journey etc.
And always start off the night with my husband in our own bedroom. If I get twitchy I get up for a walkabout downstairs, ..... if it only sort of settles, I'll go into a spare bed... possibly sleep a little, but generally end up back in 'my own bed' before morning.
Have you tried the cold shower or hot shower on legs for relief, perhaps long enough to let you get over to sleep.
